This invention relates to drugs such as spironolactone which block the activity of the hormone aldosterone, and to the use of aldosterone-blocking drugs to prevent or treat myocardial fibrosis, a disease condition.
In a medical context, fibrosis refers the creation of fibrotic tissue (i.e., tissue characterized by an abnormally high quantity of fibrous material, primarily strands of collagen). In some situations, fibrosis is useful and necessary, such as in the healing of wounds, but in other situations, fibrosis can be harmful, especially when it interferes with the functioning of internal organs. As one example, liver cirrhosis is usually characterized by high levels of fibrosis. That condition, discussed in the above-cited parent U.S. application Ser. No. 07/871,390, is not directly relevant to this invention.
This invention relates to the use of mineralocorticoid antagonists (such as spironolactone) in inhibiting myocardial fibrosis.
The correlation between mineralocorticoids and fibrosis was not recognized prior to the work of the Applicant. However, a great deal was known about mineralocorticoids and about fibrosis, as separate fields in medicine and physiology. Accordingly, the following sections provide background information on each of those topics.